Understanding the Language Skills: Teaching shortened forms of written communication ?

I disagree with the statement: "that we should overlook errors in written communication and teach shortened forms that are used in technology." I think there is more of an advantage to teach students grammatically correct writing. In my opinion this genre of writing can easily be picked up on one's own through the social media. While I think it is acceptable to communicate amongst friends in this style, I would never send my employer a smiley face. I think people need to think of their audience before they write in a freer style that resembles the spoken word because once written...
I agree that language is constantly evolving. To keep up-to-date Merriam-Webster is constantly adding new words to reflect our society. There are new words related to technology such as social media and tweet, popular culture has bromance and family dynamics has boomerang child. Try explaining those terms to your parents or grandparents.
I know I'm old school, writing are instead of r and later for l8r. Maybe there is value in shortened forms, my colleague has already sent several text messages while I struggle (place emoticon here).